Printing mechanisms, such as computer printers and plain paper facsimile machines, may include an input paper tray in which the print media, such as a sheet or multiple sheets of paper, are initially loaded therein prior to printing. A single sheet of print media may be removed from the input tray and fed through the printer for printing thereon. The sheet of paper may then be deposited onto an output paper tray. Movement of the sheet of paper from the input tray to the output tray may require that the direction of movement of the sheet be changed as it is advanced through the printer, in some cases, requiring a complete reversal of the sheet direction by moving the sheet around a roller.
However, singulating and advancing just one sheet of print media from the stationary input media tray can be difficult. On some occasions, multiple sheets may be inadvertently fed through the printer at one time, resulting in jamming of the sheet within the printer and/or poor print quality. Advancing a single sheet of paper through the printer may result in difficulty in controlling the printhead to paper spacing and alignment of the single sheet of paper within the printer. Changing the direction of movement of the paper within the printer may require bulky rollers due to the allowable radius of curvature of the print media. These rollers may damage the paper or smear the freshly printed sheet. Moreover, stiff or rigid print media sheets may be incapable of advancing through such a printer system.
A printing mechanism comprises a printhead that defines a printzone, and a tray adapted to support at least one sheet of print media. The tray is adapted to move through the printzone during printing by the printhead on the sheet.